AnaCap-backed First Names Group continues its acquisition agenda

The First Names Group (formerly IFG International), the Isle of Man head-quartered trust company continues its rapid expansion with the acquisition of Mercator Trust in Guernsey.

This is the fourth acquisition for FNG since AnaCap backed its buy out in July 2012.  FNG has previously acquired the Basel Group, Citadel and Moore Management and this latest acquisition, which remains subject to regulatory approval, will take staff head-count over 520 people, making it one of the larger offshore fiduciary groups.

FNG now has offices in IoM, Jersey, Guernsey, Cyprus, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Ireland, UK, BVI and Japan, although its remains primarily IoM and Channel Islands centric in terms of headcount.

Mercator has existed for over 30 years in Guernsey, and originally spun out of an accountancy firm.

Mercator’s trust and corporate services business will change its name to First Names Group later this year, while its funds business will be incorporated into the Moore Management brand.

FNG is following a buy-and-build strategy which has been adopted by many of the private-equity backed fiduciary services businesses, including Intertrust, Vistra, TMF, Sanne Group, Hawksford and JTC.  They all seek to build scale in what remains a fragmented market with regulatory pressures pushing smaller firms into consolidation.